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Emily Knapton

GregAML7620_2025-06-20-07-12-44

And again we made it to Friday. Time for Main Street, Connecticut, a chance to showcase our local towns and cities and the things they have to offer. This week we're in Norwalk. News 12 Connecticut's Greg Thompson takes us to Veterans Park ahead of this weekend's big Juneteenth celebration. Alright, so we know that there is a Juneteenth celebration going on over at the Norwalk Green, but I'm told that right here Veterans Park is the actual place to be. I'm here with the genius of mind behind all of that, the planner suits, the suits. Tell me what exactly we have going on right here tonight. We have a Juneteenth celebration. Like this is a big, big deal. Everything about this weekend is a big deal. OK. First we're opening up, so Carnival opens at 6 p.m., but we're opening up at 5 p.m. With the freedom walk and commemoration of the Juneteenth holiday, it took slaves 2.5 years to realize they were free. So the grandmother of Juneteenth, Ms. Opal Lee, who ironically is hospitalized, and this is the first year she's not doing the walk and the first year that we are doing the walk to commemorate that 2.5 miles. So if we walk around Veterans Park 3 times, that's 2.5 miles and that's how we're gonna set off this Juneteenth weekend. Yes, we're excited. Yeah, big big weekend on top. I feel the energy. I feel it's gonna look a lot different right here in just a few hours. So tell me, you talked about making sure the history, the culture is kind of reflected in the celebration. So what can we expect when everything starts getting set up here? Oh my goodness. So we're gonna expect Ferris wheels, the cliffhanger, Morena Amusement. They're coming correct. They're coming big. But then even we have vendors, we have the trucks, we have the food trucks, we have Pop Pop's Fish and Grits, we have Mel's Kitchen. We have even. Mike's Deli, so we have community people coming together to um to to join in in our experience. This is a cultural event. So and then we're fundraising for the first black heritage parade in 27 years in Norwalk. It's been a very long time, so we're very excited. I mean to try we're like electrified, everybody, the energy is up here. We're lit. I, I, I might provide about half the funding for that parade right there. All the things you listed because I'm gonna have to eat all of those, so I think you'll be halfway through the parade after just I'm done. Uh, you mentioned the parade, you mentioned trying to get all of those different things part of the culture in here. How important is it to just kind of make sure that people in Norwalk, people here around Connecticut, kind of remember and kind of start learning a little bit from some of them just exactly what Juneteenth is about. They have to understand what Juneteenth is not a fad. It's not a thing. This is the real deal. It's a federal holiday, OK? It's the emancipation. Of slaves. So this happened June 19th, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, and like I said, it took slaves 2.5 years before they realized they were free. OK, it's not gonna take 2.5 minutes tonight to realize that we're free because we're celebrating and something else. Make Music Day is Saturday, June 21st, and we're a recording studio also, so we're gonna have performances, live performances. We're gonna celebrate Make Music Day, Juneteenth. We're just celebrating all weekend and we're excited. This is the first, our annual Juneteenth carnival, and I thank you so much because I mean you see the energy, you see what it is. You feel it. I know my stomach is going to be feeling it a little bit. My ears are gonna be feeling it. We're all gonna be feeling it again, it's going on tonight. It's going on Saturday and it's going on Sunday. Plenty of chances to get out here. Enjoy all this, feel some of that energy until then we are indoor Walk. Greg Thompson, News 12 Connecticut. All right, love that enthusiasm.

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Greg8aml620_2025-06-20-08-12-00

And we made it to Friday. It's time for Main Street, Connecticut a chance to showcase our local towns and cities and the things they have to offer. This week we're visiting Norwalk. News 12 Connecticut's Craig Thompson takes us to Overton Seafood Restaurant right on Water Street and Seaview Avenue with more Greg. So I know I said I was going to hold off on eating until tonight, but take a look at all of this here. I think I just lied to everyone. How can I not eat some of this? This is from Overton's right around the corner from Veterans Park. I'm here right now with Demetrius, a member of the senior team here. Demetrius, Overton's has been open for almost 80 years. You've been here for 27 of that. You got to tell me what is the secret. The secret is being in a place that the owners actually work side by side with you, so you don't feel like you're working for them, you're working with them. That's awesome and obviously I'm gonna try and take a bite of this while we talk. I talk with my mouth open. Hopefully my mom is not watching. If she is, it is worth it. That is really good. So we got the view out here on the deck behind us. We got the food that I'm trying to talk and eat while we're going right here. So what is it? Do you come for the food, stay for the view, come for the view, stay for the food? What what is it here? You do it all. It's a one stop shop. Yeah, you mentioned one stop shops. We got what is this clam strips we have going on right here? Clam strips. We've got a lobster roll. And we've got a double cheeseburger. Nice, so what is your favorite? Do you have a go to order here? All of it's delicious. I can't say that I've got a favorite because I'm responsible for all of it. The burgers though, if you can see it, it is a double decker, it is layered with American cheese and these are pressed fresh daily. They come from Omaha beef and they are the best quality you can buy. Really, so you're coming to a seafood place, you're getting the burger. Good to know. Good for our camera guy Trey right here who's actually allergic to seafood. So he's going to be enjoying that one right there. Great news for Trey. So obviously in this area, especially in Connecticut, right around even the street right here, there's a lot of competition for seafood. How do you stand out and have this sort of longevity that Overton has had here? I think the secret is the owners actually show up for work every day. That is the secret. A lot of people think they could just open a restaurant and everybody else is gonna do the work. They're open. Early in the morning he's here prepping fresh seafood. He's breading it. It's a, it's a task, but he's not afraid to work. No, and I'm just gonna, I'm going to endorse. I don't know if we have a no endorsements rule. I'm gonna endorse. Endorsing the work, it pays off right in this. You mentioned the long days 10 a.m. you said the owner here, 11 a.m. the doors open, open until 10 p.m. at night. Is there a special best time to come, sunset? Is that when it gets busy? Should we try and beat the rush sometime any time you recommend? Best time is whenever you're hungry. Well, that's right now. I'm gonna, I, I had the one and I, I, I can't wait any longer. Demetrius, thank you so much. I, I, I have no words. I'm just gonna keep eating this. We're gonna send it back to you for now in Norwalk, Greg Thompson, News 12 Connecticut. Well, you don't need word, good words when you've got food like that. All right, Greg, thanks.

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News 12 is checking out all the best spots in Norwalk.

Main Street Connecticut: Showcasing the top summer spots in Norwalk

News 12 is checking out all the best spots in Norwalk.

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